Geno Smith showed up to New York Jets training camp this week wearing something nobody expected: bright red contact lenses. It wasn’t a fashion statement. It was a fix for a problem every quarterback deals with on a sun-drenched practice field.
Smith wore the lenses again Thursday at the team’s facility in Florham Park, New Jersey, and finally explained what was going on when a reporter asked him about the look during his post-practice press conference. According to the ESPN, Rich Cimini was among those who first flagged the new look at camp.
“It’s actually pretty cool,” Smith said. “It blocks out the sunlight and all that, so it’s actually pretty cool. It keeps the glare from the sun out of your eyes.”
One reporter told Smith the lenses gave him a slightly unsettling appearance. Smith wasn’t fazed. He’s stuck with them through multiple practices now, glare and all.
Why Geno Smith Is Wearing Red Contacts
The lenses work by filtering out certain wavelengths of light, which cuts down on glare without requiring a quarterback to squint through deep-set eye black or a visor. Smith isn’t the first NFL quarterback to try them — Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert wore similar lenses last summer, per the Associated Press.
For Smith, the idea traces back more than a decade to a former teammate. “The inspiration for the red contact lenses came from his former Jets teammate Santonio Holmes,” who wore them during his final season with the team in 2013. Smith said he cleared the decision with eye doctors before adopting them himself.
“It’s just something we’re trying out, just to see what it’s like,” Smith said. “I like it, so we’ve been sticking with it.”
There’s an odd visual side effect that comes with the territory. From the outside, Smith looks like he’s seeing red. From the inside, it’s the opposite. “The entire room is yellow, so it’s a yellow tint to everything,” Smith said. “But yeah, it’s pretty cool. You guys should try it.”
A Fresh Start After a Rough Year
The lighter camp moment comes at the start of what’s shaping up as a pivotal season for the 35-year-old quarterback. Smith is back with the Jets — the team that drafted him in 2013 — after New York acquired him from the Las Vegas Raiders in a March trade that sent a sixth-round pick to Las Vegas in exchange for Smith and a seventh-rounder.
His 2025 season in Las Vegas was difficult by any measure. Smith finished with an 84.7 passer rating and threw a league-high 17 interceptions as the Raiders went 2-13 in games he started. New York, which went 3-14 last season and has now missed the playoffs for 15 straight years, is counting on Smith to stabilize a position that produced just 2,777 passing yards and 14 touchdowns combined from Justin Fields, Tyrod Taylor and Brady Cook a year ago.
Smith also spent part of the offseason dealing with a legal matter away from the field. In June, a woman identified as his ex-girlfriend called police to Smith’s home in Davie, Florida, and later posted a video on social media alleging he had assaulted her. Davie police investigated the incident but confirmed to ESPN that the case is no longer active and Smith will not face charges. Police said conflicting accounts and a lack of surveillance footage made it impossible to determine a primary aggressor in the incident, though the department noted future action remains possible if new evidence surfaces. Neither Smith nor the Jets have commented publicly on the matter.
With that investigation behind him for now, Smith heads into camp as New York’s starter, red contacts and all, looking to put together a bounce-back season under center.
